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Okay – this is oddly uncorroborated by larger news sources as yet, but as the sad tidings originated just hours ago as a posting from the head of Troll Lord Games, his current publisher, they’re very likely true.

Gary Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, has passed away, aged just 69. He had been seriously ill for some time.

Would we ever have had PC RPGs without Gygax’s laying down of roleplaying foundations back in 1974? Oh, probably – in some form, anyway. But would we have had Ultima, Fallout, Diablo, World of Warcraft, even Deus Ex? Probably not. Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights and Planescape Torment? Definitely not.

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There is an empty chair,
at the table this day.
A hallowed place where,
a friend once played.
The roll of his dice,
my ears long to hear.
Or perhaps it would suffice,
if he should suddenly appear.
With character sheet in hand,
and a bag of Cheeze-doodles to share.
All his friends would stand,
as he sat in the empty chair.
I hear his voice a-callin’,
and it ties my heart in a knot.
For he cries, “Though a comrade has fallen,
You must play for those who cannot.”
We conquered worlds on the run,
he and I in the name of fun.
And as others may come and go,
I make both both friend and foe.
But what I long for most,
is our past now long a ghost.

For giving us a portal leading to wondrous realms of imagination and showing us how to use it… I too shall respectfully raise a cup of Dwarven Ale with my party comrades, silent by the fireplace, in a tawern, in some distant land…

I feel I must pay my respect to the one person that made my imagination fly as a youngster. I played countless hours of ad&d perusing the rules. I think I owe that man a big part of my understanding of english. In 82 there was no translation in french
Puisse tu reposer en paix Gary Gygax.
may you rest in peace, You’ll be remembered